William Thomson, later known as Lord Kelvin, is from Ireland. He was one of the first people to try and figure out the age of the earth. He used the second law of thermodynamics to predict the heat death of the earth. Using it he was also able to tell that the universe was not infinitely old. He worked with numerous famous scientists. Most notably James Prescott Joule. Along with Joule, they came up with the Joule-Thomson effect. This was used to create refrigerators. He was largely responsible for engineering becoming such a prominent use of applied science. The Kelvin temperature scale was named after him because of the work he did with the laws of thermodynamics. The scale starts at absolute zero, a concept that he came up with, and is used in physics and astronomy.
Insight and Influences
William Thomson was born in Belfast, Ireland on June 24 1824. The son of James Thomson, he was the second son of four children. His father was a professor of engineering at the University of Belfast at the time of William's birth. When he was only nine years old he nearly died of heart problems but turned out to be fine. His mother died when he was only six years old so she didn't have an influence on any part of his life. His father brought the family up on a strict Presbyterian fashion. When he was younger he went to Royal Belfast Academical Institution where his father was a
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professor in the university department. After his mother died him and his family moved to Glasgow, England where his father became a professor of mathematics at the University of Glasgow. At a young age he was instantly good at math and so at age eleven his father enrolled him at the university in 1841. Although his father was strict towards him and his siblings William was very close to his father.
In 1845 he went to study at Cambridge University and then from there he went to study in Paris with Regnault, where he and Regnault worked on the study of science demonstration techniques. By the time he was 16 he was well schooled in mathematics. In 1846 he wrote his first paper on mathematics and in that same year he became a professor of Natural Philosophy (physics) at Glasgow University, the same place his father had been one when he was younger.
Major Contributions
He was the professor of Natural Philosophy at the university for fifty years and during that time he had many major accomplishments. One of the things that he is most famous for came in the earliest years of his stay at Glasgow. He predicted the age of the earth to be between twenty and four-hundred million years old. He did this without knowing the heating effect of the radioactivity in the Earth's core. Although his calculations were way off he didn't know it at the time so he stood by his calculations throughout his life. He contested Darwin's theory of evolution as impossible in the time period. In 1851 Kelvin published ideas that lead to the second law of thermodynamics. It states no heat can able transferred to from a colder to a hotter object without converting work into heat at the end of a change. While Kelvin usually worked alone he did work with fellow physicists James Prescott Joule in the field of thermodynamics. He supported Joule's mechanical equivalent of heat.[¹] Together they came up with the Joule-Thomson Effect. It is when "the change in temperature that accompanies expansion of a gas without production of work or transfer of heat. At ordinary temperatures and pressures, all real gases except hydrogen and helium cool upon such expansion; this phenomenon often is utilized in liquefying gases."[⁴] Joule and Thomson came up with this in 1852. The effect is what is used to cool refrigerators.
Kelvin was also the lead supervisor on the first transatlantic cable that brought communication between Europe
Lord Kelvin
and the United States for the first time ever. It was only able to work because of his inventions of signal amplifiers and sensitive receivers. Most people know his name because it is used in the Kelvin Temperature Scale. It involves a concept that he came up with that is absolute zero. Absolute zero is when something gets so cold that the atoms in whatever it is don't move because it took all the energy. There isn't anything naturally occuring that actually gets that low. In the deepest depths of space it gets down to three degrees above absolute zero. It is proof that there was a Big Bang because the heat that is there is radiant heat leftover from it. Even humans can't get atoms down to absolute zero. For at least a hundred years we have had refrigerators that have been able to get down 1/1000 of a degree above absolute. Just recently Cornell and Wieman got it down to one billionth of a degree above it. The scale that was named after him starts at absolute zero and goes up from there. [⁵]
Affect and Effect
There weren't a lot of people that influenced Lord Kelvin. His father was really the only one. He got Kelvin into the universities that he did his studying at. Growing up his mother died at an early age so his dad was the one that had to raise him and all his siblings. His dad was his teacher when he was a kid and was the person that first got him interested in learning. Being a professor at the universtity he got his son into the program for the younger kids. Other than his dad he didn't really have anyone influence him but he influenced countless young and old scientists.
In 1851 Kelvin wrote a paper and presented it to the Royal Society of Edinburgh about the dynamical theory of heat. It reconciled the work of Sadi Carnot and with the conclusions of Count Rumford, Sir Humphry Davy, and Julius Robert Mayer among others. The paper put the dynamical theory of heat and the fundamental principle of the conservation of energy in a place where it could be accepted by other scientists. In the paper was the first time that Kelvin talked about the principle of the disposition of energy.[²]
In 1879 he discovered a wave that was later to be called the Kelvin wave that is a "large-scale wave motion of great practical importance in the Earth’s atmosphere and ocean." [⁷] There are three main parts into what make up a Kelvin Wave: "a) gravity and stable stratification for sustaining a gravitational oscillation, b) signifigant Coriolis acceleration, and c) the presence of vertical boundraries or the equator."[⁷] There are many types of Kelvin Waves. There are Boundrary-Trapped Kelvin Waves which are
Image courtesy of Goodman Appliances
Legacy
Lord kelvin is known for all of the work that he had to do with heat. He and James Prescott Joule came up with the Joule-Thomson efect which is what is used ro make a refrigerator work. It is what we use to perserve our food so we can save money on not having to throwing away rotten food. He gave a starting point to help at determing how old the earth is. He made a prediction (that was not anywhere near right) using mathematical calculations that the earth was one hundred million years old. He was the first person that said something about the age of the earth that disagreed with the Bible.
Table of Contents
Lord Kelvin
William Thomson, later known as Lord Kelvin, is from Ireland. He was one of the first people to try and figure out the age of the earth. He used the second law of thermodynamics to predict the heat death of the earth. Using it he was also able to tell that the universe was not infinitely old. He worked with numerous famous scientists. Most notably James Prescott Joule. Along with Joule, they came up with the Joule-Thomson effect. This was used to create refrigerators. He was largely responsible for engineering becoming such a prominent use of applied science. The Kelvin temperature scale was named after him because of the work he did with the laws of thermodynamics. The scale starts at absolute zero, a concept that he came up with, and is used in physics and astronomy.
Insight and Influences
William Thomson was born in Belfast, Ireland on June 24 1824. The son of James Thomson, he was the second son of four children. His father was a professor of engineering at the University of Belfast at the time of William's birth. When he was only nine years old he nearly died of heart problems but turned out to be fine. His mother died when he was only six years old so she didn't have an influence on any part of his life. His father brought the family up on a strict Presbyterian fashion. When he was younger he went to Royal Belfast Academical Institution where his father was a
In 1845 he went to study at Cambridge University and then from there he went to study in Paris with Regnault, where he and Regnault worked on the study of science demonstration techniques. By the time he was 16 he was well schooled in mathematics. In 1846 he wrote his first paper on mathematics and in that same year he became a professor of Natural Philosophy (physics) at Glasgow University, the same place his father had been one when he was younger.
Major Contributions
He was the professor of Natural Philosophy at the university for fifty years and during that time he had many major accomplishments. One of the things that he is most famous for came in the earliest years of his stay at Glasgow. He predicted the age of the earth to be between twenty and four-hundred million years old. He did this without knowing the heating effect of the radioactivity in the Earth's core. Although his calculations were way off he didn't know it at the time so he stood by his calculations throughout his life. He contested Darwin's theory of evolution as impossible in the time period. In 1851 Kelvin published ideas that lead to the second law of thermodynamics. It states no heat can able transferred to from a colder to a hotter object without converting work into heat at the end of a change. While Kelvin usually worked alone he did work with fellow physicists James Prescott Joule in the field of thermodynamics. He supported Joule's mechanical equivalent of heat.[¹] Together they came up with the Joule-Thomson Effect. It is when "the change in temperature that accompanies expansion of a gas without production of work or transfer of heat. At ordinary temperatures and pressures, all real gases except hydrogen and helium cool upon such expansion; this phenomenon often is utilized in liquefying gases."[⁴] Joule and Thomson came up with this in 1852. The effect is what is used to cool refrigerators.
Kelvin was also the lead supervisor on the first transatlantic cable that brought communication between Europe
Affect and Effect
There weren't a lot of people that influenced Lord Kelvin. His father was really the only one. He got Kelvin into the universities that he did his studying at. Growing up his mother died at an early age so his dad was the one that had to raise him and all his siblings. His dad was his teacher when he was a kid and was the person that first got him interested in learning. Being a professor at the universtity he got his son into the program for the younger kids. Other than his dad he didn't really have anyone influence him but he influenced countless young and old scientists.
In 1851 Kelvin wrote a paper and presented it to the Royal Society of Edinburgh about the dynamical theory of heat. It reconciled the work of Sadi Carnot and with the conclusions of Count Rumford, Sir Humphry Davy, and Julius Robert Mayer among others. The paper put the dynamical theory of heat and the fundamental principle of the conservation of energy in a place where it could be accepted by other scientists. In the paper was the first time that Kelvin talked about the principle of the disposition of energy.[²]
In 1879 he discovered a wave that was later to be called the Kelvin wave that is a "large-scale wave motion of great practical importance in the Earth’s atmosphere and ocean." [⁷] There are three main parts into what make up a Kelvin Wave: "a) gravity and stable stratification for sustaining a gravitational oscillation, b) signifigant Coriolis acceleration, and c) the presence of vertical boundraries or the equator."[⁷] There are many types of Kelvin Waves. There are Boundrary-Trapped Kelvin Waves which are
Legacy
Lord kelvin is known for all of the work that he had to do with heat. He and James Prescott Joule came up with the Joule-Thomson efect which is what is used ro make a refrigerator work. It is what we use to perserve our food so we can save money on not having to throwing away rotten food. He gave a starting point to help at determing how old the earth is. He made a prediction (that was not anywhere near right) using mathematical calculations that the earth was one hundred million years old. He was the first person that said something about the age of the earth that disagreed with the Bible.
References
1. http://www.todayinsci.com/K/Kelvin_Lord/Kelvin_Lord.htm
2. http://www.nndb.com/people/607/000050457/
3. http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Kelvin.html
4. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/306635/Joule-Thomson-effect
5. http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/bec/temperature.html
6. http://www.gap-system.org/~history/Biographies/Thomson.html
7. http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/MET/Faculty/bwang/bw/paper/wang_103.pdf
8. http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1568.htm
9. http://www.goodmanappliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/refrigerator-repair.jpg
10. http://www.web.visionlearning.com/events/images/Kelvin_young.jpg
11. http://www.physics.gla.ac.uk/Physics3/Kelvin_online/Kelvin_society/Kelvin.glf